This Sermon's Inspiration Will Soon Be Dated, But Its Message is an Eternal Verity!

Pastor Russell’s Response to the Events in Chicago

March 13, 2016 

Hate-mongering Nazi Party Gauleiter Julius Streicher on trail at Nuremberg, where he was found guilty of crimes against humanity in 1946 and was sentenced to death. He published the antisemitic “Der Sturmer.”

A BREIF SUMMARY OF SOME IMPORTANT OBSERVATIONS

Pastor Fredrick Russell, Lead Pastor of Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church, Atlanta, jettisoned plans he made earlier to preach a sermon based on the Apostle Paul’s exasperating encounter in Athens with the Cynics and Epicureans. He instead provided some Scripturally inspired commentary concerning the fact that Violence Continues at Donald Trump Rallies. The escalation of the level of violence at Friday night’s (3/11/2016) Chicago Rally resulted in a cancellation of this event. This day also witnessed a plea by Trump for the Republican party to come together behind him. Pastor Russell has a personal connection to this last issue, one that may be discovered by watching the video of his timely presentation. The writer for this site has used sensationalism in order to publicize his commentary before, but will abstain, at this critical juncture in national affairs, from diluting the main thrust of the pastor’s talk with parenthetical issues. For the sake of decorum, Pastor Russell will be allowed to speak for himself regarding his personal involvement in current events. The sermon is embedded in this YouTube link to the ENTIRE SERVICE, and the main topic is broached at time marker 1:23:18. As the message is an extremely important one, you are encouraged to listen to the sermon first. The usual presentation style of this page, one that places Sabbath events in chronological order, will be modified today. What is most important will be positioned in the “uppermost seats in the synagogue.”

A DESCRIPTION OF THE MANY CHALLANGES OUR NATION IS FACING, CONCLUDING WITH A MESSAGE OF HOPE

Journalists are taught to begin their articles with statements that are indispensable to the story. Here are a few indispensable statements: Pastor Russell is an Adventist. This denomination anticipates the imminent return of Jesus Christ. Today’s sermon began, was permeated by, and concluded with the Word of God as stated in Revelation 11:13-15. Verses 13 and 14 describe terrestrial calamities, an analog of the current political climate. Verse 15 describes the manner in which these difficulties may be resolved:

The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.” (NIV)

Reichsleiter Martin Bormann was tried in absentia at Nuremburg. He joined the Nazi Party in 1927. His remains were discovered in 1972, and identified in 1998. His ashes were scattered in the Baltic Sea.

Pastor Fredrick Russell, just before reading the aforementioned three verses from Revelation to the congregation, mentioned Friday’s unrest in Chicago. He announced his intention to talk about “some things that are really crazy that are happening in our country right now.” After the Scripture was read, he prayed that the attention of his listeners be shifted to what is portending in our world and our country, and that the Lord would provide a “heads up” that “He that shall come, will come, and will not tarry.”

Pastor Russell vowed that he was not engaging in hyperbole by predicting that there could soon be “open riots in the streets of our country.” He said that the separation and division that mars our nation is as “stark as I have ever seen it.” He refreshed our memories about what had just transpired at Donald Trump’s rally at the University of Illinois. He lamented the escalation of the disruptions that attend Trump from mere verbal abuse to actual physical violence. After briefly touching upon his personal involvement with a certain presidential candidate, Pastor Russell made a general observation about the animosity that is being directed at Muslims, Mexicans, and protesters that are simply exercising their First Amendment right to free speech. Where was this nation heading toward? Pastor Russell asserted that “unless there were something that heals the awesome division in our country,” then last night’s events might only represent a microcosm of a much larger trend, and they we might have “open warfare on our streets.”

Pastor Russell pointed out the division of the races along party lines, even in the South, with blacks voting “wholesale” for the Democrats, and whites [predominately] aligned with the Republicans. “We’ve got that racial division that is becoming more intense,” he said. He alluded to the unreasoned persecution of our sitting President. The existence of an African-American President has only served to intensify the “racial element.” The “ethnic division” is also an issue. Immigrants are under attack, but Pastor Russell reminded us that the Bible admonishes us to “entertain foreigners and strangers.” for they, too, are the children of God.

Grand Admiral Karl Donitz was head of Germany for 23 days after Hitler’s suicide, and surrendered to the British. He was sentenced to ten years in prison at the Nuremburg Trial for “crimes against peace.”

Pastor Russell mentioned the proposed wall that will theoretically exclude illegal immigration, asserting that it would not only be physical, but “metaphorical” as well. “Walls are going up all across our country right now. We have a sitting President who is being undermined in a way where there is no one in our country… that is really in charge.” Today it is worse than ever before. “We are watching a slow denigration in the culture, and the level of not just subtle hatred, but overt hatred is becoming [more] intense as the days go by,” he remarked. “The lines are being drawn in this country.” He compared the current malevolence to what was evidenced in the contest between Bush and Gore back in 2000, a showdown that was on the brink of violence. The possibility of “war in the streets” was again mentioned.

Pastor Russell has his finger on the pulse of the international press corps. “The whole world is watching us now,” he informed us, and said that he has surveyed French, English and Canadian attitudes toward the gutter politics that currently tarnish the image of America. “I was in Canada a few weeks ago, and I was sitting at the table with my Canadian brothers and sisters, and they were quizzing me.” They wanted to know exactly what was going on here, “south of the border.” They compared the Presidential debates to a bunch of third-graders who are “hurtling insults at each other. Where is the class of this country going?” they asked [an inadvertent double entendre, perhaps].

The issue of “racial division” was revived. “There is racial division in this country,” Pastor Russell stated forthrightly, but quickly added that, as believers, we do not engage in this division. The Pastor vowed that he was “Christian first. I happen to be black, but I am Christian first.” Pastor Russell said that Asian-Americans were the fastest growing group at present, surpassing the Hispanic growth rate. Blacks are also gaining in population. In a few years, the pastor revealed, it will be a “majority minority country.”

Hermann Goering won the Blue Max in WWI, but subsequently went downhill very quickly. At Nuremburg, he was convicted on four counts, but cheated the hangman by committing suicide.

The pace of change in this country is creating a climate of fear, according to Pastor Russell. Some desperately wish to “hold on to what they always had.” How is it, he wondered, that “Christians” could possibly be voting for people that are engendering division? People get tied to political parties, not understanding that there is no “salvation” associated with these groups. There is only salvation in Jesus Christ.

“Here’s what’s going to happen in the next few weeks,” he stated. Because the level of racial hatred is so high, and because of economic division (despite the relatively robust economy), because of the rise of new racial and ethnic groups, and because the “church” (across the board) has itself engaged deeply in politics, people will just want to stop and ask the question, “God, just what is this all about?” The balm for these societal ills may be discovered in the Book of Revelation, Chapter 11, Verse 15. “No matter what you see coming down the pike,” the pastor said, he wanted us to hold on to the words of the Revelator: … there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.”
“The thing that keeps me sane,” Pastor Fredrick Russell revealed, “is turning over to this verse, and knowing that:

• Donald Trump is not in charge of this country.
• Hillary Clinton is not in charge of this country.
• Ted Cruz is not in charge of this country.
• Bernie Sanders is not in charge of this country.”

“The fact is, the Lord says, ‘I am in total, absolute control.'” If we don’t give into the divisive hatred that is going on, if we do not buy into it, then this could prove to be an awesome time to witness for Jesus Christ. All around us, on our jobs, and in our communities, everyone is perplexed, asking, “what is going to happen? What is going to happen?” We [as Christians] are able to say, “God is in control of this world, and that nothing will happen unless God first permits it.”

Rudolph Hess was a Nazi from day one. At the Nuremburg Trial, he was convicted on four counts, but some mitigating circumstances netted him a life sentence. He spent the next 41 years in Spandau Prison, dying in 1987 at age 93.

“God does allow us,” the pastor told us, “to play out the natural consequences of our choices.” The pastor reminded the congregation of an earlier notice, by himself, of the gradual withdrawal of the Holy Spirit from this earth. As this withdrawal progresses, the pastor said that “the natural inhibitions, the natural protectors begin to pull back from the earth as well.” The pastor predicted, again, and emphatically, that there may well be “war in the streets of this country. We’ve got people with more guns than we have ever had before.” Ever since the election of Obama, people have been stockpiling weapons, deluded into thinking that they had to protect themselves against the government. Paranoia has set in. There are extremes that are speaking past each other. If we are paying attention to all of this, there is a danger that “our hearts can begin to fail, for fear,” But we must get back to the fact of the promise of Revelation 11:15, that the “kingdoms of this world, shall become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ.”

Pastor Russell inquired of the congregation as to how many believed that God is in control, and many hands were raised in the affirmative. He than asked if we also believed that God was in control not only of worldly turbulence, but of the personal turbulence in our personal lives, and many asserted that this, too, was a truth.  The pastor now tendered some strength and comfort to his flock. “With the hatred that’s happening:

• As a Christian, I cannot hate someone else.
• As a Christian, I cannot be ugly towards these people.
• As a Christian, I can’t engage in the ‘us against them speech.’

I cannot do that as a Christian. I can observe things. I can point things out, but I cannot go there, because the Word of God says that ‘they will know that we are Christians by the love that we have, one for another,'” It is not a question of doctrinal purity, the pastor informed us, but of pragmatic action. “Do you love your brother who is speaking evil against you? ”

Joachim Von Ribbentrop joined the Nazis in 1932, and (like Joseph Kennedy) was ambassador to the Court of St. James. At the Nuremburg Trial, he was found guilty of four counts, and was executed in 1946.

The pastor informed us that we were to extend forgiveness to others, even if they did not ask for it. He asserted that “if the church becomes the “Church” in this country, all of this craziness stops right now.” If, in contrast, the church gets caught up in the madness, and starts acting like everyone else, then there is no hope for the world. If the righteous lose their bearings, what hope is there…?” Some observations on the sovereignty of God were supplied. “He sets up kings, and He takes them down. Promotion does not come from the West, or the East, or the North. The Bible says that promotion comes from God.” The pastor noted historical instances where God has allowed bad people to come to leadership, sometimes in order to punish His people. But even when God has permitted folk like Nebuchadnezzar, or Darius, the impression is nevertheless that God keeps His hand on the steering wheel of what is happening in the culture.

“The worst thing you can do right now,” Pastor Russell warned, “is become fearful.” He added that this would be a good time to follow Paul’s admonishment to “pray for those that are over you.”

• “We pray for President Obama. We pray for his government.”
• “We pray for the folk who are running for office right now.”
• “We pray for the [healing of] the division that’s happening in the country.”
• “We pray that the violence that we saw last night is not just the beginning (although it appears that it can be).”
• “We pray that God keeps the winds, holds them back a little longer, until everyone that wants to be saved, and needs to be saved, is saved.”

The pastor’s comments assumed the complexion of an “altar call” at this point. He confidently said, “some of you in this room are not saved yet.” He warned us that we might “look up one day, and probation is over.” At that juncture, it is too late for those who have not accepted Jesus, for God proclaims that, “he that is unjust, let him be unjust still. He that is filthy, let him be filthy still.” You may find yourself left out of the loop, wondering just exactly what happened.

The theme of this quarter’s Sabbath School lesson is “Rebellion and Redemption.” Architect Albert Speer was convicted at Nuremburg on two out of four counts, and, after twenty years in prison, was finally released.

“If there was ever a time when your friends and family members needed to get to know Jesus, that time is right now.” It was imperative that, in this hour of duress, that we act in a Christ-like manner. We cannot “put it on, and put it off,” for Christianity is lived out 24/7. God is not just Lord of the world, and Lord of this country, and Lord of the church. He must also be Lord of your life. “And if Jesus Christ is not Lord of your life (and this is not just ‘preacher language!’ Hear me!), if He is not the Lord of your life, of your thought process… of how your life aligns with the Word of God,” pastor urged us, “then I encourage you that you get aligned right now.”

Pastor Russell now tried facilitate our proper alignment. He reached out to those who may be shackled to a “known sin.” This was the time to confess it. Some of us may have some “stuff” in our hearts. Pastor Russell issued a warning, “you cannot go to heaven with that ‘stuff’ in there.” He repeated that the “door of probation will close some day.” There is a point, just before the Lord comes, where the books are closed. The pastor related that the door to Noah’s ark was sealed seven days before it started to rain. The people outside the ark did not even know that they were “already lost.” Events that will happen in the end times will be very rapid. The pastor closed with an injunction that may be discovered twice in the Book of Hebrews. He was not just addressing the congregation of Berean Church, or whomever may have been watching him online. His appeal was also directed to the legions who are caught up in the madness of this mad hour in the history of America. The sermon that was preempted for this Sabbath’s urgent remarks was to be, as noted previously, on the topic of Paul’s attempts to share the Gospel with the self-absorbed citizens of Athens. Not many were receptive to the word. “…some mocked; and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.” The books could close before this message has a chance to be repeated:

“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts…”

Renaissance man Dr. David Tasker (center) engaging in a Critique of Pure Reason, as he does in the conclusion to this week’s Sabbath School lessons.

A WEEK WITH PETER’S EPISTLES IS A PREFACE TO A FORTNIGHT FINALE THAT WILL FOCUS ON  REVELATION

A full quarter’s study has been recently dedicated to the study of the Epistle of James, probably because it features some wisdom the majority of people, even Christian people, prefer to either ignore or misinterpret (“faith without works is dead). I like the way it excoriates the “rich man” in chapter 5, but wish that the SONG I fashioned from this chapter was more structured. Last quarter’s lesson book attempted to soften the unambiguously harsh criticism of the well-to-do by James, as did I in introductory statements about the song. Here is a statement that is not in the Bible: “It’s not money that the Bible speaks against; it is the ‘love’ of money.” I am still trying to find someone who does not love money. The trick is to overcome this ubiquitous love in order to do some good. To quote Andrew Carnegie, “Surplus wealth is a sacred trust which its possessor is bound to administer in his lifetime for the good of the community.” Ellen G. White is on record to this effect as well. James merited thirteen weeks of study. For the present, Peter will have to settle for just one. This one.

Peter sticks to the basics in his two letters, and, as John does in his correspondence, predominately urging us to be on our best behavior, and to “keep hope alive!” John, in his First Epistle, also emphasizes “commandment keeping.” Peter writes in the same vein, substituting words like “obedience” and “diligence” and “ordinance” for “commandments.” He urges the reader to joyfully endure tribulation. He offers, in the manner of Paul, some housekeeping tips. He warns us, in the manner of John, against false doctrine. He reminds us, as does Jesus, that the Lord shall return according to His own timetable, and not ours. We are assured by Peter, in the King James Translation, that the Lord is not “slack” about keeping His promise to return. Other versions use the work “slow,” which is more accurate, but “slack” is such a fine word, it has survived (or perhaps been revived) as a slang expression. Peter’s Second Epistle concludes with a mention of the relative opacity of Paul’s writings, with a warning that the student of Paul must apply due diligence to his study (a warning I just had to drag into commentary upon last week’s studies on Paul). Peter, a plain man, is (in contrast to Paul) very plainspoken.

I tried searching for “Peter Warming His Hands,” a great opportunity for an old master to feature some dramatic up-lighting. No luck! Here is “England Nets” cricket coach Peter Moores warming his hands.

Ellen G. White offers some insight about what kind of polemical and physical activity Peter was engaged in after he disappears from the radar in the Book of Acts. The information may be found in chapters 51 and 52 of “The Acts of the Apostles.”

Chapter 51  offers commentary on First Peter, and is called “A Faithful Undershepherd.” She notes that Jesus spoke to Peter of the latter’s “conversion,” just before he denied the Lord thrice. When he wrote his two letters, Peter had already undergone this conversion. He no longer trusted in himself, but in Christ. The perfectly symmetrical balance between the number of Peter’s denials and Jesus’ solicitous elicitations of Peter’s love is restated by Ellen White. When I read the last verses recently, I have to admit that I cried! She notes that the believers that Peter sought to strengthen and edify were surrounded by the unwholesome influences of the pagan world. Things were a little saner in the U.S.A. at the time that she was writing, which marked the apogee of Victorian morality (for some, though not all). In our day and age, we have regressed to the pattern of the Roman Empire, which was pretty bad. A further deterioration would put us all the way back to Canaanite times, which would be even worse.

Ellen White tells us that the message found in the first letter of Peter is especially significant to those who anxiously anticipate the return of our Lord. One of Peter’s most memorable statements is interpreted as being prophetic of the enhanced level of tribulation and persecution that the church will experience, the “…hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.” This memorable statement is from First Peter 4:12-13. The verse is descriptive of a transitional state that most who undergo conversion experience. Personally, this represented ( before I read Ellen White’s slant on things) the sole meaning I attached to it. The “Spirit of Prophecy” reveals that it is, additionally, a anticipation of the “perilous times” that the church will experience in the end times. The verse reads as follows: “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.”

Peter warming his hands at the fire, cursing and denying Jesus, marks the low point of his walk on the wrong side of “the great controversy.” Some great artist has no doubt depicted this cautionary tale. But who?.

Ellen G. White holds up Peter as an example for other “undershepherds.” Ellen White writes that “Ministry means more than sermonizing; it means earnest, personal labor.” Two pages are dedicated to instructions for church leaders. This useful digression is provoked by First Peter 5:2: “Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind.” This LINK declares that the average pastor’s salary in the U.S. is just $28,000 a year. This is not a lot of money. The link describes Robert Jeffress’ shocked reaction when he learned from a haberdasher that a  mega-preacher spent $60,000 on a suit. The high-rollers have a high profile, and compromise the reputation of the entire profession in the untutored perception of unbelievers. Chapter 51 of “Acts of the Apostles” ends with the same words that conclude First Peter. This verse expresses the hope that, after the Christian has “suffered awhile” he will be perfected, “stablished,” strengthened, and settled. 

Chapter 52 in “Acts of the Apostles” is called “Steadfast to the End.” The greatest revelation to me, upon reading this chapter, was the verification by the “Spirit of Prophecy” of the manner of the execution of Peter. The fact that Peter would not experience a natural death was stated by Jesus in John 21:18: “…when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.” Peter speaks of his imminent martyrdom in Second Peter 1:14: “Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.” Church tradition, not always a reliable source (I referred to it as “legend” in last Sabbath’s post), is that Peter requested that he be crucified “upside-down,” as he felt unworthy to die in like manner to Jesus himself. Fox’s Book of Martyrs, a proper Protestant document, refers to Jerome (the man who wrote the Vulgate) as the source for information on Peter’s demise. Jerome was a defender of orthodoxy against Arianism (I am currently an amateur defender of Adventist doctrine against Adventist Arians), as well as Pelagianism. Jerome waged war on a heresy that is kind of variation on Arianism, as it denied divinity to the Holy Spirit. It was known by the hard-to-remember name of its sect: the  Pneumatomachi. Like Augustine, he transitioned from a misspent youth into a fruitful adulthood as an energetic polemicist for the faith. Jerome is not uniformly accepted by Protestants, but Ellen G. White has embraced his statements on Peter’s endgame. The next few sentences reflect my bemused attempt to discover the source of Jerome’s commentary.

I drew this Tuesday night, but discovered Wednesday I just had to search for “denial” rather than “hand warming.” I can’t draw people at all! Just buildings.

Here is a LINK to what I think is a work by Jerome, It is called “Lives of Illustrious Men.” Chapter 1 is called “Simon Peter.” It states that Peter arrived in Rome in the second year of Claudius (I promise not to digress in order to ramble on about Robert Grave’s historical novel “I, Claudius“). There, he took over leadership of the church from Simon Magus (source for the word “simony”), ruling for 25 years, until the 14th (and last) year of Nero’s reign (I promise not to digress in order to ramble on about the ingenious architectural merits of Nero’s Golden House). Jerome insinuates that Second Peter may not be by the same author as First Peter. Five apocryphal books, alleged to be by Peter, are disallowed by Jerome. They are the “Acts,” the “Gospel,” the “Preaching,” the “Revelation,” and the “Judgment.” The inverted crucifixion of Peter is mentioned, as is his death in the Vatican area. A gigantic church marked this spot, long before the current edifice did. It was demolished to make way for the “new” church. The Old St. Peter’s Basilica stood for 1200 years, and construction commenced way back in the days of Constantine. Charlemagne was crowned there in 800. In the 15th century, Leon Battista Alberti (a very early and influential Renaissance architect, but not exactly a household name) declared Old St. Peter’s to be a disaster waiting to happen. The new basilica replaces it. The sale of “indulgences” to finance the new church was one of the outrages that provoked Martin Luther to nail his Ninety-Five Thesis to the church door (an urban legend, but he did pass them around). All that remains now from Old St. Peter’s is the altar (one that presumably contains the bones of Peter himself).  

“Steadfast Unto the End” describes the efforts by Peter, in his last years, to grow the faith of that flock that Jesus had admonished him to “feed.” “We have not followed cunningly designed fables…” declares the disciple who was an eyewitness to the ministry and miracles of our Savior. This great piece of information is followed by what Ellen White considers to be even greater news. Second Peter 1:19 reads “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place…” The Holy Ghost would continue to advise the church in perilous times. Ellen White warns us against false prophecy, as does Peter himself in Second Peter 2:1: “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies…”

Carnac the Magnificent

The subject of “prophecy” as described in Peter’s letters is raised in the Tuesday Sabbath School lesson, but author David Tasker does not zoom in on Ellen G. White’s first notice of it in Chapter 52 of “Acts of the Apostles.” He and Mrs. White are very much on the same page, however, in Thursday’s lesson on the Second Coming of Christ. Ellen White quotes Peter regarding the existence of “scoffers” in the last days. There are plenty of “scoffers scoffing their scoff” (my parody of Revelation 14:2) at this time. Ergo, these are the last days. Jumping the gun to David Tasker’s concluding remarks upon this weeks lesson, we find him taking all of the so-called “experts” (scoffers) to task. “No wonder Paul wrote ‘For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God’ (First Corinthians 3:19). It was in the time of the flood [he had just quoted E.G. White on Noah], it was in Peter’s time, and it is in ours, as  well.” Dr. Tasker applies this theme in order to refute the theory of evolution. I am more inclusive than Dr. Tasker, for I refute practically the entire corpus of “human” wisdom, or what Augustine referred to as “the gold of Egypt.” It is mostly “fool’s gold,” all of this foolishness.

Sunday’s lesson, “From Darkness to Light,” discusses First Peter 2:9-10. Here is 9: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” The highly disappointing song I tried to create to compliment this lesson may be warily examined at this LINK to the place where it has been quarantined, pending its exile to the archives. It is “mainstream,” but under my direction it wound up sounding like a Pepsi commercial sung by Alfalfa of the “Little Rascals.”

Theodore Roberts (not Charlton Heston) as Moses, preparing to part the Red Sea in Cecil B. DeMille’s 1923 (not 1956) movie “The Ten Commandments.”

David Tasker, in Lesson 6 (back in February), “Victory in the Wilderness,” drew some interesting parallels between the Temptation of Christ and the Exodus. They are both tales of “deliverance.” Dr. Tasker invokes the Exodus concept of a “Chosen People” to tie the book to Peter’s edifying (perhaps even flattering) description of the pioneering Christians who were his special charge. Peter declares to his flock that they have been delivered “out of the darkness,” a good tie-in to the “great controversy” theme if ever there was one. Dr. Tasker provides a quote from Ellen G. White that cites our helplessness to emerge from darkness on our own. It is from Chapter 32 of “The Desire of Ages,” one entitled “The Centurion,”  and is located on page 317. This page finds E.G. White quoting an excerpt from “Rock of Ages,” “In my hand no price I bring; Simply to Thy cross I cling.” The centurion that is the subject of the chapter is not Peter’s Cornelius, but the one in Matthew 8 and Luke 7, of whom Jesus proclaimed, ” I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.”

Monday’s lesson is named “Peer Pressure,” and directs the student to First Peter 4:1-7. Peter, as well as Dr. Tasker, cautions us not too “return to our vomit” (my reference, and not that of either the Saint or the Sage). Peter’s flock, as the Ellen White quote from Chapter 51 of “Acts of the Apostles” cited earlier notes, “were surrounded by the unwholesome influences of the pagan world.” To crib a term that Jimmy Swaggart loves to use, in this age we are surrounded by the accommodationist approach of the “Seeker Sensitive” movement. This movement was inaugurated with the best of intentions, but has devolved, in many instances, to levels that are a little too sensitive to the desires of those who are seeking.There exists no such thing as a totally effortless walk with Jesus, for Scripture reveals that we have a role that takes diligence, and application, and (last but not least) full obedience to God’s commands. The thrust of Dr. Taskers lesson is the avoidance of bad secular influences. I have expanded it to also include bad denominations. I have to replicate a statement from Lesson 8 of our previous studies based on Jeremiah. I found it to be very incisive, and not a little humorous: “”History is replete with the sad stories of people who one minute were ‘worshiping’ in some beautiful church somewhere and the next minute were walking out and committing some atrocity, which was perhaps even instigated by what they learned inside that beautiful structure.” This statement probably refers to something more than simply eating unclean foods, and resting on the first day instead of the seventh. It is not an “Ellen White,” so it must have been an observation made by the author of the lesson. I wish he had furnished one of these “atrocities” as an example.

Missionary Donald McGavran’s book inaugurated the “Seeker Sensitive” movement, one which places the creature before the Creator. The author was not advocating cheap grace, but his disciples are.

Tuesday’s lesson, “The More Sure Word of Prophecy,” marks a shift in Dr. Tasker’s focus from First Peter to Second Peter. The key citation is Second Peter 1:16-21, which may be brought to your remembrance by the lines, “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables…” and “We have also a more sure word of prophecy,” and “…no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation.” The last verse, 21, was the answer to a question asked of me by my Bible worker, Mae Williams, when she was grooming me for Adventism. She asked “who wrote the Bible?” Peter reveals that “…holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” My first answer, which proved unacceptable (on a technicality), was “God Himself.” I hope it is not heretical of me to believe that the substantive influence of these “holy men” upon the content of the inerrant Word was analogous to the influence that a typewriter has upon the work of an author. God is the potter, and not the pot. The human element enters into picture when we are writing Sabbath School lesson books, or lame commentaries upon them. But it very diverting when Dr. Tasker invites imperfect men of letters like T.S. Eliot and Fyodor Dostoyevsky into the conversation. Although both of these writers were indisputably Christian, some ultra-fundamentalist factions might be afraid of them. Not the intrepid Dr. Tasker! I will miss him when he is gone.

Wednesday’s lesson is entitled “Scoffers.” I redirect your attention to remarks written exactly 5 paragraphs previous to this. The thread of the conversation directed focus to the theme of “scoffers” at that point, and even led to a mention of a presentation Dr. Tasker made “down under,” defending Holy Writ against the malevolent forces of Darwinism. The head of these Sabbath School ruminations features a photo of Dr. Tasker, caught in the very midst of this defense.

I already posted a Kiwi bird. This is a Maori warrior, another product unique to Dr, David Tasker’s native New Zealand. Leo Tolstoy’s crazy relative  Fyodor Ivanovich Tolstoy got tattooed like this. He was a nut!

Thursday’s lesson, “Hastening the Day,” assists in “making straight a way in the desert” for the conclusion, 15 days hence, of this quarter’s study. All pedagogic  roads are leading to the Second Coming of Jesus. Berean SDA Church Pastor Fredrick Russell and his staff are featuring the Second Coming as a theme for a revival that will take place in early April, and have designated this theme as “The Arrival.” This will occur on April 6-9. The featured revivalist, Dr. Solomon Jules, may or may not be aware of this theme. If he is, then climactic presentations concerning the “Second Coming” will impact Berean SDA not only during the April revival, but also on March 25, when our quarterly Sabbath School lessons on “Rebellion and Redemption” conclude, not with regard to this present evil world, but with a consideration of the aftermath of the Second Coming, our relocation to “A New Heaven and a New Earth” (March 23), a place where there shall be “No More Tears” (March 24). At this point, our unimpeachable schoolmaster, New Zealander Dr. David Tasker, will hop upon Quantas , withdraw to the Antipodes , and once there, will briefly rest upon his laurels until duty should again summon him to reemerge as #2 defender of the Remnant Church against all challengers. Defender #1 is, of course, Ted N.C. Wilson.